


Blackout

by TheTomorrowKnight



Series: Witch Without a Past [1]
Category: Harry Potter - Fandom, Supernatural
Genre: De-Aged Hermione, Fantasy, Magic, Mythology - Freeform, Spirits, Supernatural - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-01-21
Updated: 2014-06-08
Packaged: 2018-05-17 12:41:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 12,572
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5869993
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheTomorrowKnight/pseuds/TheTomorrowKnight
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dean and Sam are about to take their strangest case yet, the case of Hermione, an eleven year old girl who can't remember anything from her past, not even her last name. Starts off at Season 1, episode 3, of Supernatural.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Hermione

The ‘67 Chevrolet Impala cruised down the open road, reflecting the November sun off the hood. Dean spared a glance at Sam, half expecting to face an empty passenger seat. Little over a week had passed since the youngest Winchester had resumed hunting, and Dean still hadn’t processed it. For three years, Sam had been away at Stanford, and there weren’t enough words for Dean to express the feeling of having his little brother back. He didn’t share this with Sam, though. It wasn’t something he needed to hear anytime soon. 

The pre-law student rarely talked about Jessica, opting to ignore her passing entirely. Whenever Dean brought it up, Sam would shake off the subject, and pretend he was perfectly fine. Sam was a pretty good actor, but Dean saw right through the facade. The twenty-two year old hardly slept, and when he did, it wasn’t without nightmares. Dean had lost count of the times he’d heard Sam mutter Jessica’s name in his sleep, and it worried him. Dean knew it would take more than a couple weeks for Sam to return to his normal self, maybe he never would. However, Sam needed to accept that she was gone for good. If not for his own sake, then for Jessica’s.

In the meantime, slaying things that go bump in the night seemed to be a good distraction. Sure, the two of them had only hunted a Woman in White and a Wendigo, but it was enough to get Sam back in the swing of things. Besides, there were plenty more hunts awaiting them.

The two brothers were on their way to a case in Lake Manitoc, Wisconsin. While Dean had been ogling a waitress, Sam had found an obituary in the paper about a varsity swimmer, Sophie Carlton, who had drowned in the lake a week ago. Which was strange enough without the other recent drownings. So, the Winchesters climbed into the Impala, or ‘Baby’ as Dean calls it, and were soon on their way to check out the case for themselves.

“You’ve been thunderstruck!” Dean belt out, pointing an index finger at Sam. He sang dreadfully, and his voice cracked at certain pitches. 

Sam winced. “How much longer?” He asked, mentally debating if he should shut off the AC/DC and face Dean’s wrath. He really couldn’t take anymore ‘mullet rock’ hits. 

Dean shrugged. “I don’t know, about fifteen minutes?”

“Great…” Sam muttered under his breath. He didn’t want to think of what other songs Dean could force upon him in that length of time. Out of the corner of his eye, Sam saw caught sight of something on the pavement ahead. He turned his attention back to the road. It seemed to be some sort of dead animal. A rabbit maybe? Sam squinted, and stiffened as he realized what it was. His eyes widened, and he yelled out, “Dean!”

Dean jumped, surprised at the alarm in Sam’s voice. “What?” 

He followed Sam’s gaze, and his jaw dropped. There was a little girl sprawled out on the ground ahead. “Holy shit!” He cursed, slamming his foot against the brake pedal. Sam and Dean were jerked forward, as the Impala skid a couple miles, before slowing to a complete stop.

For a moment, Sam and Dean were frozen, their hearts beating frantically. The Winchesters glanced at each other and simultaneously exit the Impala, the doors slamming shut behind them. 

“Did I hit her?” Dean asked, his tone heavy with concern.

Sam gulped. “I hope not.”

The two brothers ran to the young girl’s side. To their relief, they couldn’t see any blood, cuts, or bruises. Hell, she could have been sleeping. “I didn’t hit her?” 

Sam knelt beside the girl and placed two fingers on the side of her neck, checking for a pulse. “I think she’s okay.” He concluded, just as relieved.

Dean stepped back, looking her over. She appeared to be about eleven years old, with long brown curls strewn around her unconscious body. The pink hoodie and jeans she wore were caked in dry mud. Whatever happened to her had been recent. At least an hour or two ago. Her small hands were clenched into tight fists, and when she shifted, her head lolled to the opposite side.

Dean glanced at Sam. “Hey, I think she’s waking up.”

Mere seconds after he’d spoken, the girl groaned, struggling to sit up. Sam helped support her, placing a hand on her small back. Her eyes fluttered open, and revealed her striking brown pupils. She remained still and calm, but her eyes gave her away. They were large like a doe’s, and Sam could tell she was terrified. He’d seen the expression too many times.

“Are you okay?” He asked.

She blinked several times, still not fully conscious. After processing what Sam had said, she gave a small nod. “I… I think so.” She managed to stutter out. Sam gave her a small smile. She had an adorable British accent. 

“Why don’t you grab a water bottle?” Sam suggested to Dean. Who knew how long she’d been out there? Dean eyed the girl and nodded.

Sam let out a breath of air, and twisted to face her again. There were no visible injuries, and it didn’t seem like any internal damage had befallen her either. As far as he could tell, she was all right. “You gave us quite the scare.” He commented.

“I did?” She asked.

Dean scoffed, returning from the trunk of the Impala, a plastic water bottle in hand. “I’ll say. You were three seconds away from being a human pancake.” Sam glared at Dean. “What?”

Rolling his eyes, Sam turned back to the girl, and placed a hand on her shoulder. “What were you doing out on the road?” He asked.

She paused, and broke eye contact as she fought to remember. “I… I don’t know.” She looked up at Sam, eyes wide. “I can’t remember.”

“Did you hit your head?” He asked, examining her as he spoke.

“I don’t think so.” She replied, subconsciously checking to be sure.

“Where are your parents?” He questioned further. Surely a girl this young had someone looking out for her?

She stayed silent, thinking. Sam saw her shoulders shake, as panic undoubtedly set in. “I d… don’t know.” She faltered, her eyes watering.

“It’s okay.” Sam reassured, rubbing her back gently. Dean used to do the same thing to him whenever he thought John wouldn’t make it back to them. He figured if it had worked on him, maybe it would help the girl as well. As far as he could tell, it was working. She relaxed slightly, and the flow of tears seemed to lessen. Sam gave her a small smile. “Can you tell us your name?”

She nodded, and stuttered, “H...Hermione.”

Dean unscrewed the cap of the water bottle, and knelt beside Hermione. He held it out to her, and she accepted it. She raised it up to her lips and slowly took a sip from it.

“Hermione, we’re going to help you, okay?” 

“Okay.”

Dean glanced between Sam and Hermione. “Sam, can I talk to you for a moment?” He asked, eyeing Hermione.

Sam frowned, noticing Dean’s discomfort. “Uh, yeah, sure.” He turned to Hermione. “We’ll be right back.”

Dean led Sam to the back end of the Impala, and leant against the trunk. Sam crossed his arms over his chest, and sighed. “Dean, what is this about?”

Dean’s jaw dropped. “What’s this about?” He repeated, incredulously. “What the hell are you doing?”

Sam raised an eyebrow. “Oh, I dunno, being helpful?” Sam suggested, his head bobbing around, reminding Dean of a teenage drama queen having a meltdown.

“We’re working a job.” Dean pointed out. 

“And our job is to help people!” Sam shot back. He sighed, and ran a hand through his hair: a bad habit. “Look, we’re fifteen minutes from Lake Manitoc. Maybe her parents are there?”

Dean hesitated. “Well, what the hell’s she doing way out here?”

“That’s what we’re going to find out.” 

 

The rest of the drive to Lake Manitoc was spent in silence. Hermione sat in the backseat, and Sam would regularly look back to check on her. He knew she was okay, but there was still a part of him that constantly worried about her. She was clueless, and scared, which chipped at his heart. 

Dean however, didn’t even look at the kid through the rearview mirror. He kept his eyes on the road, and Sam was sure he was pretending Hermione didn’t exist. Or maybe he was still mad about the cassettes. Which would explain the constant tapping of his fingers, and why he was humming a Led Zeppelin song.

At Sam’s insistence, Dean had turned off his classic rock n’ roll, saying it was inappropriate for Hermione. Dean, of course, argued that kids love AC/DC, and that the colorful words they learned were an added bonus. After a challenge of rock, paper, scissors, however, AC/DC was no more. Sam honestly didn’t know why Dean continued to choose scissors every time. But it didn’t matter, the music was off, and they were on their way to helping Hermione. 

However, once they had reached the area and started asking around for Hermione’s family, it became apparent that no one knew who she was. 

Dean knelt down on one knee to match the height of Hermione, who was seated in the backseat of the Impala. She looked at him, her eyes big and sad. She was lost, and confused, and Dean felt for her. He’d never tell Sam this, but there had been a few times when he was younger, where he and John had been separated on a hunting trip. Sometimes he’d spend a few days alone before they found each other. He could still remember the fear, and no matter how reserved Hermione was, he knew she felt it too.

“You still don’t remember anything?” He asked, hoping her amnesia would only be temporary.

She shook her head. 

Dean sighed. This didn’t make any sense. No bump to the head, no friggin’ injury at all. He didn’t have any more ideas. What would happen to Hermione now? Would they just send her off to an orphanage? Did they still have those? They couldn’t find her family, and she didn’t remember a damn thing. All she did was sit there, and act all sweet and innocent...

“Sam, get the holy water.”

Sam frowned, not getting it. Dean jerked his head in Hermione’s direction. Sam’s eyes widened when he finally realized what Dean meant. “You don’t think she’s…”

“Possessed?” Dean ended for him. “Have to check all possibilities, Sammy.” He eyed Hermione, a shiver running down his spine. 

Sam sighed, and handed Dean a flask of holy water. Hermione glanced between the two brothers, confused. “What are you doing?”

“Just checking some things, you’ll be fine.” Sam assured her.

“Yeah, if you don’t have anything to hide.” Dean added, aware that Sam was glaring at him.

Dean took hold of her hand, and poured the holy water on her skin. The two brothers watched anxiously, but nothing happened. “Salt.” Dean ordered, tossing aside the flask. Sam rolled his eyes, and handed Dean the salt. He took a handful, and dropped it on Hermione’s hand. Again, nothing unusual happened. 

Sam knew what was next, silver. “Dean…”

“Knife.”

Hermione’s eyes widened. “K...knife?” She stuttered, fearful.

“Just hold still, it’ll only be a small cut.”

Sam hesitated before handing Dean the knife. He ran the blade across the girl’s small hand. She cringed, watching as the blood trickled through her fingers. Tears fell down her cheeks, and she let out a small whine of pain. But the silver did nothing abnormal to her.

Dean frowned, taking a step away. As far as they could tell, she was human. 

Sam took Dean’s place, kneeling beside the girl. He smiled gently, and wiped the tears from her eyes. “Hey, it’s over. I promise. No more…” He glared at Dean. “Tests.”

“Sam, can I talk to you?” 

“One minute.” Sam took a cloth, and handed it to Hermione. “Put some pressure on it, okay?”

She nodded, and Sam grinned. “You’re very brave.” He whispered. She beamed.

Dean cleared his throat, and after rolling his eyes, Sam followed him to the front of the impala.

Dean crossed his arms over his chest. “So, she’s not a demon, she’s not a ghost, not a werewolf, and definitely not a vampire or she’d be burnt as hell.” Dean counted off on his fingers. “She’s human.” 

“Do you think maybe she was possessed? That’s why she couldn’t remember anything?”

Dean shook his head. “That crossed my mind too, but she wouldn’t have forgotten everything, Sam. She would have been conscious for parts of it. Unless, maybe she’s hiding something from us?”

“No, I don’t think so.” Sam disagreed. He ran his hand through his hair and sighed. “What do we do now, Dean?”

Dean shrugged. “I don’t know, but we’ve got a case to do, man, and there’s no way in hell she’s working it with us.”

“Okay then, let’s hand her over to the sheriff.” Sam suggested, his tone dripping with sarcasm.

“Beats tagging along with us.”

“Dean!”

“Then what do we do, Sam?” Dean asked, his tone serious. “I’m as clueless as you.”

Sam shrugged. “Maybe it’d be best if she tagged along…”

Dean’s green eyes widened. “What? Are you nuts?”

“Just hear me out. Whatever happened to her wasn’t natural. It was…” He paused, searching for the right word. “Supernatural. We don’t know if anything was after her. It’d be a whole lot safer for her to stay with us. Don’t you think?”

Dean sighed. He didn’t want to admit it, but Sam had a point. “Fine.” He gave in. “Let’s go check out the Carltons.”


	2. Ford, Hamill, and Fisher

Dean drove the Impala up to the Carlton's lakefront property, and lightly pressed down on the brake. The vehicle slowed to a complete stop, and he shifted the gears into park. The lake was eerily calm and deserted for a Sunday afternoon. Which, in Dean's opinion, was a smart move for the locals. The last thing they needed was another drowning.

As Dean retrieved the fake ID's from the glove compartment, Sam turned to face Hermione. She held her head in her hands, and her long hair blocked her face from view. She knew how successful their efforts had been so far. "We'll be right back." Sam told her. She but didn't bother answering. Instead, she gave a small nod to show she acknowledged his words. Sam frowned, he'd have to find a way to brighten her spirits later. For now, he and Dean had a witness to talk to.

Sam accepted an ID from Dean, and gave Hermione a small smile. Without a backwards glance, Dean exited the Impala, and Sam followed. The two approached the porch, and Dean knocked on the front door. After Dean's third impatient knock, the door was answered by a young adult.

Dean examined the guy. "Will Carlton?" Dean presumed, identifying him as the victim's brother.

"Yeah, that's right." Will confirmed.

"I'm Agent Ford. This is Agent Hamill." Dean introduced, pointing at Sam. He held back a smile a at the use of two of his personal favorite aliases. Ah, references. "We're with the US Wildlife Service." He continued, and held up his fake ID, not that Will would notice whether or not it was authentic.

Will didn't question the ID, or their identities. He didn't invite the two 'agents' inside, though. Instead, he led Sam and Dean closer to the lake. From their position, they could see Will's father, Bill, seated on a bench out on the dock.

Will shoved his hands in his pockets, and rocked back and forth slowly. Dean could tell he still hadn't quite processed his sister's death. "She was about a hundred yards out." Will explained, catching the brothers' attention. "That's where she got dragged down." Will glanced at the lake out of the corner of his eye, still not ready to face his loss.

Dean raised an eyebrow. "And you're sure she didn't just drown?"

Will nodded. "Yeah, she was a varsity swimmer." He turned away from Sam and Dean as he spoke, struggling to get the words out. "She practically grew up in that lake. She was a ssafe out there as in her own bathtub."

Sam's brow furrowed. "So no splashing? No signs of distress?"

Will shook his head. "No, that's what I'm telling you."

"Did you see any shadows in the water?" Sam questioned further, looking for signs of the supernatural. "Maybe some dark shape breach the surface?" Even if it had been a regular, every-day human, surely Will would have seen something?

Again, Will shook his head. "No. Again, she was really far out there."

"You ever see any strange tracks by the shoreline?" Dean asked.

"No, never." Will glanced between Dean and Sam. "Why? What do you think is out there?"

"We'll let you know as soon as we do." Dean said, which was pretty much code for, no freakin' idea.

Thinking they wouldn't get much more information out of Will, Dean turned to head back to the Impala. He froze in his tracks though, when he heard Sam speak.

"What about your father? Can we talk to him?"

"Look, if you don't mind, I mean…" He trailed off, glancing at his father. "He didn't see anything and he's kind of been through a lot."

"We understand."

Sam and Dean returned to the Impala, closing the doors behind them. Sam sighed, running a hand through his hair. Three drownings, one witness, no motive, and no signs of any creature, whatsoever. This case made the Wendigo and Woman in White seem like a piece of cake.

"What was that about?" Hermione asked, interrupting Sam's thoughts.

Sam saw Dean roll his eyes before putting on an obviously fake smile, which he was sure even the dumbest could see through. "Oh, just talking to some old friends." Dean said, in a sugar sweet tone.

Hermione bit her lip. "What's wrong?" Sam asked her.

She looked down at her shoes. "You can't find my parents can you?"

Sam sighed. "They're out there somewhere…"

Hermione forced a smile on her face, doing a better job at it than Dean. "Thanks for trying, but I know I'm just causing you trouble." She said as she reached for the door handle.

"No you're not." Sam insisted.

Sam could barely hear the groan escape Dean, and he gave him a quick glare. No matter how much of a pain in the ass this kid was, they were going to help her. And Dean could bitch about it all he wanted.

"I can tell you're busy doing something else. I heard you tell that man you're with the Wildlife Services."

Dean scoffed. "So?"

Hermione gave him a knowing look. "Wildlife Services wouldn't call a deer an ass and threaten to shoot it because it ran across the road." She pointed out, referring to an event that had occurred on their way to Lake Manitoc. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure it goes against their purpose." Sam laughed, while Dean scowled.

Sam sighed. The girl was deadly curious. She reminded him of a younger, female version of himself. He had acted the same way trying to get information out of his dad and Dean. He had desperately wanted to know the 'family business'. Curiosity killed the cat was an appropriate saying for the situation, but in the long-run, he was better off knowing those things. And when he thought about it, Hermione would be too. "You're right. You deserve the truth."

Dean's jaw dropped, and he turned to face his younger brother. "Sam!"

"She deserves to know."

Dean shook his head. "She's just a kid." He argued.

Sams scoffed. "So were we!"

"I deserve to know what?" Hermione asked, butting into the argument.

Sam sighed. "Look, we have no clue where to find your parents. All we know is that we found you in the middle of the road."

"I'm Dean, and this is Sam. We hunt ghosts, spirits, things that go bump in the night." Dean continued.

"What does this have to do with me?" Hermione asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, we think something supernatural…"

"Got my parents?" She finished.

Sam nodded. "Yeah, maybe. Salt, holy water, and silver have a bad effect on certain creatures, so..."

"You were making sure I wasn't one of them?"

Dean blinked. "You catch on fast, kid."

She looked up at the two of them. "So, what? You save people from these creatures?

Dean shrugged. "Every so often. I guess you could say it's our job." He turned to Sam, grinning. "We're the ghostbusters!"

Sam shook his head, trying not to grin. That would only encourage Dean's ego. "So, you're like… heroes?"

Dean scoffed. "Not my choice of words."

"I guess in a way, kinda."

"That's brave." She commented.

Sam smiled. "Yeah, and we're working on a case right now."

Hermione's eyes lit up, and she seemed to jump out of her seat. Dean knew what was coming next…

"Can I help out?"

"Sammy…"

Sam smiled. "Sure."

Dean groaned.

Ten minutes later, Dean parked the Impala in front of the police station. He turned off the engine, and faced Sam. "Show time."

"Can I come?" Hermione asked, her voice hopeful.

"Don't say yes, don't say yes, don't say yes…" Dean repeated quietly to himself.

Sam shrugged. "Sure."

Dean groaned, and turned to face the eleven year old. "Fine. But behave." Sam raised an eyebrow at his brother's comment. "No talking about ghosts and spirits, and pretty much anything we just talked about." He closed his eyes. "I swear if you mention we're not Wildlife Service Agents…"

Hermione interrupted, "or your names aren't Ford and Hamill?"

"Or our names aren't Ford and Hamill. We'll leave you behind, got that?" Hermione nodded.

"Good. You can be Hermione Fisher, and in case anyone asks, Sam's your uncle. Got that?"

Hermione smiled. "Got it."

Sam chuckled. "We're continuing with the Star Wars theme here?"

Dean nodded. "You bet. Keep complaining, and you can be Agent Jar Jar Binks."

"Now I'm sorry, but why does the Wildlife Service care about an accidental drowning?" Sheriff Jake questioned.

"You sure it's accidental?" Sam asked. "Will Carlton saw something grab his sister."

Sheriff Jake frowned. "Like what?" Hermione, Dean, and Sam followed the sheriff into his office.

"Here, sit, please." Jake motioned to two chairs in front of his desk. Dean immediately sat down. There was no way he was standing up for that kid. Shaking his head, Sam sat down and let Hermione sit on his lap. "There are no indigenous carnivores in that lake. There's nothing even big enough to pull down a person." He scoffed. "Unless it was the Loch Ness Monster."

"Yeah." Dean laughed. "Right."

Jake shook his head. "Will Carlton was traumatized, and sometimes the mind plays tricks. Still, we dragged that entire lake. We even ran a sonar sweep, just to be sure, and there was nothing down there."

"That's weird, though, I mean, that's, that's the third missing body this year."

"I know. These are people from my town. These are people I care about." Jake sighed. "Anyway, all this… it won't be a problem much longer."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, the dam, of course." He said, as if it were obvious.

Dean bit his lip. "Of course, the dam. It's, uh, it sprung a leak." He guessed.

"It's falling apart, and the feds won't give us the grant to repair it, so they've opened the spillway. In another six months, there won't be much of a lake. There won't be much of a town, either. But as Federal Wildlife, you already knew that."

"Exactly."

A young woman tapped on the door, and entered. Sam and Hermione turned around, and Dean stood up. "Sorry, am I interrupting?" She asked. "I can come back later."

"This is my daughter." The sheriff said.

Dean smiled. "It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Dean."

The woman shook hands with Dean. "Andrea Barr."

Hermione got off Sam's lap and the two of them went over to Dean and Andrea. "I'm Sam." Sam introduced, shaking hands with Andrea as well. "And this is my niece, Hermione."

Andrea smiled. "Hi."

Hermione whispered,"hi," back, feigning shyness.

"They're from the Wildlife Service. About the lake."

"Oh."

A young boy, about seven or eight years old, peeked out from behind Andrea.

"Oh, hey there. What's your name?" Dean asked.

Lucas walked away without speaking, and Andrea quickly followed.

"His name is Lucas." Jake answered.

"Is he okay?" Sam asked, concerned.

"My grandson's been through a lot. We all have."

Jake went to the office door. "Well, if there's anything else I can do for you, please let me know." He said, leading Sam, Dean and Hermione out.

"Thanks. You know, now that you mentioned it, could you point us in the direction of a reasonably priced motel?" Dean asked, eyeing Andrea.

"Lakefront Motel. Go around the corner. it's about two blocks south."

"Thanks."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so Chapter 2! As you can see this takes place during the episode Dead in the Water so it's been a little difficult trying to put Hermione in, but also fun! I promise there'll be more Hermione in future chapters! Thanks for reading! Comments/Kudos are always appreciated!


	3. Shopping Spree

Back at the motel room, Sam was working on his laptop. Hermione sat beside him, and occasionally she'd give some suggestions, or add her input, but mostly she just watched. Sam chuckled, in a way, she was like his apprentice.

Dean stayed away from the pair, choosing instead to do a load of laundry. As Sam had expected, Dean 'borrowed' quarters from him.

"So there's the three drowning victims this year." Sam reported.

"Any before that?" Dean asked, abandoning his clothes to join the two researchers.

Hermione nodded. "Yeah."

"Did I ask you?"

Sam rolled his eyes. "Dean, she wants to help, so let her help." He turned back to his laptop, where he had a browser window open to the Lake Manitoc Tribune. He clicked on the link to an article, and read the opening. "Drowning taints Ice Fishing Festival, 12-year-old girl drowns in lake, second drowning in 6 months at Lake Manitoc." Sam shook his head. "Six more spread out over the past thirty-five years. Those bodies were never recovered either. If there is something out there, it's picking up its pace."

"So what? We got a lake monster on a binge?" Dean asked, reading the article over Sam's shoulder.

Sam shrugged. "This whole lake monster theory, it, it just bugs me."

"Why? Haven't you dealt with something like this?" Hermione asked.

Sam scoffed. "Not exactly, but that's not what bugs me. Loch Ness, uh, Lake Champlain, there are literally hundreds of eyewitness accounts, but here, almost nothing." He sighed. "Whatever is out there, no one's living to talk about it."

Dean pointed at the article. "Wait, Barr, Christopher Barr. Where have I heard that name before?"

"Christopher Barr, the victim in May." Sam read. He clicked on the link, opening a new page. "Local man in tragic accident." The picture loaded and it showed a police officer with Lucas, the child from earlier.

"That's Lucas." Hermione said.

"Oh." Sam said. "Christopher Barr was Andrea's husband, Lucas's father. Apparently he took Lucas out swimming. Lucas was on a floating wooden platform when Chris drowned. Two hours before the kid got rescued." Sam enlarged the picture for a better look, then scratched his head. "Maybe we have an eyewitness after all."

Dean shook his head. No wonder that kid was so freaked out. Watching one of your parents die isn't something you just get over."

Hermione bit her lip. "Do you think my parents drowned too?"

Sam shrugged. "Maybe, but I don't thinks so. You were fifteen minutes from the lake. Not to mention, you would have remembered it."

Hermione sighed. "Yeah…"

Sam glanced at her. "We should probably get you some new clothes, a toothbrush, you know, necessities."

"Okay, you two go on your mother-daughter shopping spree, and I'll go talk to the witness." Dean decided.

"No. We'll all go later. I think Lucas might open up to Hermione."

"Does it fit?" Sam asked through the change room door.

"I think so." Hermione called back.

Dean shook his head, and checked his watch. Still as impatient as ever. "I cannot believe we're doing this."

"Dean, chill." Sam said, rolling his eyes.

"We have more important things to do."

Dean was acting immature. They'd only been at the store for fifteen minutes. Andrea and Lucas would still be there when the got out. Or at least, he hoped so.

"Done." Hermione announced, skipping out of the change room. She held a pile of new clothing in her arms.

"Okay, so what fit?" Sam asked, taking the clothes from her.

"All of the jeans fit. Most of the shirts fit, except for the yellow and the orange one." She told him, pointing out the shirts. "The leather jacket was pretty cool but…"

"If it fits, you're keeping it." Dean interrupted.

Sam raised an eyebrow and Dean shrugged. "What? It's cool?"

Hermione smiled. "Yeah. The pajamas fit too. So did the running shoes, and the boots."

Sam smiled. "Great, so we got toothbrush, hairbrush, clothes. The only thing left is…"

The two brothers exchanged horrific glances before simultaneously saying, "underwear."

Sam and Dean turned to each other, each with the exact same idea. Hermione raised an eyebrow as they held their fists out. On the count of three, like elementary school kids, they called out, "Rock, paper, scissors!"

As always, Sam threw out rock, and Dean threw out scissors. "Come on!" Dean yelled.

Hermione snickered.

Sam shrugged. "You always choose scissors, man."

Dean scowled. "Alright, let's get this over with."

Dean and Hermione left Sam to get in line at checkout, and went to get Hermione some underwear. The journey was mostly made in silence. Finally, Hermione found the courage to speak.

"So, Sam said you always choose scissors." She said, striking up a conversation.

Dean scoffed. "So?"

"Why?" She questioned, looking up at him with her precious doe-like eyes.

Dean shrugged. "Instinct, I suppose."

"How often do you play?" She questioned further.

"Sometimes."

"Over what?"

Dean rolled his eyes. "Things we don't really want to do."

"Dangerous things?"

Dean sighed. Hermione was quickly becoming a pain in his ass. "Sometimes." She smirked, and Dean frowned. "What?"

"I think I know why you do it." She said in a sing-song voice that annoyed the crap out of him.

Dean raised an eyebrow. "Huh?"

"You always choose scissors 'cus you know Sam will always choose rock." She guessed.

"What's your point?" He growled.

"If it's something dangerous, then Sam doesn't have to deal with it. You do it to keep him out of harm's way." She grinned. "And you put up with stupid things, like shopping with me, so that he'll continue to choose rock. Am I right?"

"No." Dean said, rather quickly.

"Then what?"

"None of you're freakin' business."

Hermione smiled. "I won't tell Sam."

They continued on in silence. Dean looked up at Dean, and stopped walking. Dean turned, realizing Hermione was behind him. He furrowed his brow. "Hermione?"

"Why don't you like me?" She asked, all of a sudden.

Dean sighed. "It's not that I don't like you. I'm just, I'm just mad at Sam."

"Why?"

"You're a nosy one aren't you?"

Hermione shrugged, and her mouth curved into a small smile. "Maybe."

Dean sighed. "Sam and I, we didn't have a damn choice, you get that. We were dragged into this fucked up life. The same shouldn't happen to you. You might have a family somewhere, you could've kept your damn innocence."

"Isn't it best I learn how to defend myself?"

"This is what I mean." Dean cried, his temper rising. "You're a kid, and dammit, kids shouldn't talk like this."

"Then how?"

"You know what? Get the damn underwear yourself and meet us at checkout." He snapped, storming away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've actually had this on my mind 24/7. I plan to incorporate my own cases too, which I'm really excited about! I hope you liked this chapter! Comments/Kudos are always appreciated!


	4. Mudblood

Hermione exited the motel bathroom, freshened up and changed. Instead of the dirty pink hoodie and jeans, Hermione wore the copper leather jacket, black t-shirt, jeans and boots Sam and Dean had purchased for her.

"Hey." Sam greeted, looking up from his laptop.

"Find anything new?" She asked, coming to sit beside him.

Sam shook his head. "Nope. Ready to go see Lucas?

Hermione nodded. "Yeah."

At the park, kids were laughing and playing. Andrea sat on a bench to the side and watched Lucas, who knelt beside another bench, coloring and playing with toy soldiers.

"Can we join you?"

Andrea looked up to see Sam and Dean approaching her. "I'm here with my son." She told them.

Sam smiled. "And we're here with my niece."

Right on queue, Hermione walked up to Lucas. "Hey, how's it going?" She greeted, smiling.

Hermione knelt down next to the bench where Lucas was coloring. When Lucas didn't look up, she picked up one of the toy soldiers. "These are pretty cool." She commented, but Lucas didn't answer. Hermione tried again. "So you like crayons?"

There was a pile of Lucas's drawings on the bench. Picking them up, Hermione took a peak. The top one had a big black swirl and the second one was of a red bicycle. Hermione smiled. "These are really good. You mind if I sit here and draw with you for a while?"

She picked up a crayon. "I don't remember the last time I did this." She took a seat on the bench, picked up a pad of paper, and started drawing. As she drew, she spoke to Lucas. "I know you can hear me. You just don't want to talk, and I get that. I really do. I don't really know what happened to your dad, but I know it was something bad. I think I know how you feel. Maybe the reason you won't talk is because you don't think anyone will believe you. I want you to know that I will. In fact, you don't even have to say anything. You could draw me a picture about what you saw that day, with your dad, on the lake. But if you don't, that's okay too." She paused. "This is for you."

She held out the picture she drew to Lucas. There were three stick figures. A really tall one, that was supposed to be Sam, a shorter one that was Dean, and a little girl that was herself. Hermione let out a chuckle. "Guess I'm not the best artist. That's Sam, and that's Dean. They're almost like my family now, even though I haven't known them too long." Hermione frowned when Lucas didn't respond. She set the picture down on the desk, and stood up. "I'll see you around, Lucas."

Hermione approached Sam, Dean and Andrea, catching part of their conversation.

"What are the doctors saying?" Sam asked.

Andrea sighed. "That it's a kind of post-traumatic stress."

"That can't be easy. For either of you."

She shook her head. "We moved in with my dad. He helps out a lot. It's just...when I think about what Lucas went through, what he saw…"

"Kids are strong." Dean interrupted. "You'd be surprised what they can deal with." He glanced at Hermione, but quickly turned away.

Lucas left the bench, and came towards the group.

"You know, he used to have such life. He was hard to keep up with, to tell you the truth. Now he just sits there. Drawing those pictures, playing with those army men. I just wish—" She stopped talking as Lucas walked up, carrying a picture. Andrea smiled. "Hey sweetie."

Lucas handed Hermione the picture. "Thanks. Thanks, Lucas." Looking down at the picture, she saw he had drawn a house. Her eyes widened as she recognized the structure. She looked up, and Lucas had already returned to his bench.

Later that night, Sam and Hermione were seated in the motel room, going over the facts. Hermione was just about to show him the picture Lucas had drawn when Dean entered with dinner.

Sam and Hermione each muttered a greeting to Dean, not looking up from their research. Dean raised an eyebrow. "That's it? Hey? No thank you for wasting twenty precious minutes of my time for grub?" Sam rolled his eyes. "So, did he talk?" Dean asked, and took a seat beside Sam. He placed the food on the table, far enough away from the research, and Sam's laptop, so as Sam wouldn't throw a fit.

Hermione shook her head. "He drew me this." She said, showing Lucas's drawing to the brothers. "But that's it." She looked up at Sam and Dean. "It looks exactly like the Carlton house."

Sam nodded. "Yeah it does."

Dean opened up the bag of burgers, and handed Sam and Hermione one each. "So, you think he did that on purpose?"

Sam shrugged. "Maybe. But we still don't have much to go on."

"Well, then we rest on it. Go asking around tomorrow, see what we can dig up." He set down his burger. "Now, on to more important matters. Beds. Cuz Sam, I love you, man, but there is no way in hell I'm sharing a bed with you."

Hours later, the three were fast asleep, having solved the bed issue. Dean and Hermione slept in the beds, while Sam took the hide-a-bed. Hermione wanted him to promise he'd alternate, but the truth was, he barely slept anyway. So taking turns was a ridiculous idea, in his opinion.

Hermione didn't seem to fare well with sleep either. For the first few hours, she was tossing and turning. However, that quickly evolved into her thrashing and kicking. It wasn't until she started screaming, did she wake the ever tired Sam and Dean.

"What the hell's going on?" Dean asked, grabbing a knife he kept under his pillow.

"It's Hermione." Sam said, getting to his feet.

They both turned their attention to Hermione, who was squirming and shaking in her bed. Sam ran to her side. "Hermione? Hermione, wake up." He placed a hand on her shoulder, and gently gave it a shake. "Hermione?"

"Sam? She waking up?"

"Not yet." Sam's voice shook, as he became more panicked. "Hermione? Hermione can you hear me? It's Sam. Come on, wake up."

Hermione gasped and shot out of bed, breathing heavily. Her shoulders shook violently, and her back was drenched in a cold sweat. She looked up at Sam, her eyes wide and scared. Before he knew what was happening, Hermione's arms were wrapped around Sam's middle, and she was sobbing into his chest.

"It's okay." Sam whispered, shooting Dean an uncomfortable glance. "It was just a dream."

Hermione pulled away from Sam and shook her head. "It felt too real."

Dean approached the bed and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Trust me, I'm an expert. Dreams, no matter how dark and twisted, are dreams. Okay? They're not real. If they were…" Sam would be bleeding out in a ditch somewhere, Dean thought. "I would have run into Dracula by now." He continued instead.

Sam raised an eyebrow.

"Those movies were freaking' terrifying for five year old me."

"I know they're not dreams."

Sam frowned. "You think, maybe, they're memories?"

Hermione hesitated before nodding. "Yeah."

"Well, what happened?" Sam asked.

Hermione took a deep breath. "I was in this room. At first, I thought I was alone. But, but there was this woman. There was something off about her. She had this creepy smile…"

"Like the joker?" Sam glared at Dean. "What? She can't dream of batman?"

"Anyways, she said this word, I can't remember what it was, but then all of a sudden I felt this blinding pain. It felt like I was burning alive, but I wasn't on fire. I couldn't move, could barely breathe. She kept asking about a… a sword, but never said why."

"Hermione, look, this was all just a dream, okay? None of that really happened."

"You're wrong."

"Hermione…"

Tears streamed out of her eyes, and Hermione let out a sob. "She… she didn't stop with that."

Sam's brow furrowed. "So what did she do?"

"She carved something into my arm with a knife."

"Hermione…"

She shoved up the left sleeve of her shirt, revealing her bare arm. Dean and Sam's eyes widened at what they saw. Scarred into her skin, was a single word.

Mudblood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Comments/Kudos are always appreciated!


	5. Lucas's Drawings

Dean sat at the desk in the motel room using Sam's laptop for research. Sam had insisted on going out again, while Dean was left behind to watch Hermione. With difficulty, the two brothers had managed to calm her down the previous night, but that didn't stop her nightmares.

She seemed to be sleeping peacefully at the moment, but she had woken up a few times while Sam was out.

Dean let out a sigh of relief, when he heard his brother walk in. "Anything new?" Sam asked.

Dean shrugged. "Oh, you know, just you're ordinary three headed dog and dragon."

Sam raised an eyebrow. "Three headed dog? You mean like Cerberus?"

Dean stared at Sam, a blank expression on his face. "Huh?"

"Greek mythology." Sam explained.

"Man, those are some screwed up nightmares. Not to mention she's convinced it's real."

Sam hesitated. "Does she have any proof they're real?"

"You mean other than what happened last night?" Dean shook his head. "I borrowed your laptop, and looked it up. No results. That word, Sam. It doesn't exist. So, tell me you've had better luck with the case."

Sam scoffed. "I think it's safe to say we can rule out Nessie."

Dean frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I just drove past the Carlton house. There was an ambulance there. Will Carlton is dead."

"He drowned?" Dean and Sam turned to see Hermione, sitting up and rubbing her eyes.

Sam nodded. "Yep. In the sink."

"What the hell?" Dean glanced at Sam. "So you're right, this isn't a creature. We're dealing with something else."

"Yeah, but what?" Sam asked.

Dean shrugged. "I don't know. Water wraith, maybe? Some kind of demon? I mean, something that controls water…" He stopped mid-sentence, eyes widening. "Water that comes from the same source."

"The lake." Hermione said, catching on.

"Yeah."

"Which would explain why it's upping the body count." Sam said, letting out his train of thought. "The lake is draining. It'll be dry in a few months. Whatever this thing is, whatever it wants, it's running out of time."

"And if it can get through the pipes, it can get to anyone, almost anywhere." Dean shook his head. "This is gonna happen again soon."

"And we do know one other thing for sure. We know this has got something to do with Bill Carlton."

Hermione nodded. "Yeah, it took both his kids."

"And I've been asking around." Sam added. "Lucas's dad, Chris—Bill Carlton's godson."

"Let's go pay Mr. Carlton a visit."

Dean, Sam, and Hermione approached Bill Carlton, who was sitting at the bench on the dock, like he had been their previous visit.

"Mr. Carlton?" Bill looked up at the three. "We'd like to ask you a few questions, if you don't mind."

Dean pitched in. "We're from the Department—"

"I don't care who you're with." Bill interrupted. "I've answered enough questions today."

"Your son said he saw something in that lake. What about you?" Sam asked. "You ever see anything out there?" He waited for Bill to respond, but was met with silence. "Mr Carlton, Sophie's drowning and Will's death… We think there might be a connection to you or your family."

Bill looked at Sam with a downcast expression. "My children are gone. It's…" He paused, trying to regain his composure. "It's worse than dying. Go away, please."

With one last glance at Bill Carlton, Dean, Sam and Hermione respected his wishes and left the man alone. Dean lent against the driver's side door.

"I don't think he's telling us everything."

"So now…" Hermione froze.

"What is it?" Sam asked. He and Dean exchanged worried glances.

Hermione looked between the two brothers. "Maybe Mr. Carlton's not the only one who knows something."

She pulled out a piece of paper from her jacket pocket, and unfolded it. It was the picture Lucas had drawn for her. As she held it up, Dean and Sam's eyes widened. The house Lucas had drawn was an exact replica of the Carlton house.

Hermione slowly entered Lucas's bedroom. He was knelt down on the carpeted floor, army men spread out all around him. Clutched in his hand was a crayon, and a stack of papers were piled beside him. He added the final details on the picture, added it to the pile, and selected another blank paper.

Hermione crouched beside him, well aware that Dean, Sam and Andrea were watching her and Lucas. She took a deep breath, and put on a smile.

"Hey, Lucas. You remember me?"

He didn't answer, and Hermione noticed the drawing he had finished was of a red bicycle. Come to think of it, she'd seen him draw that before. She was about to ask him about it, when she remembered why she was here in the first place.

"I wanted to thank you for that last drawing. But the thing is, I need your help again."

She pulled out the drawing he had given her, and placed it over the artwork he was currently drawing.

"How did you know to draw this? Did you know something bad was gonna happen?" She waited, but he didn't answer. "Maybe you could nod yes or no for me?"

Lucas pushed the drawing out of the way, and continued coloring.

"You're scared. It's okay. I understand. See, I don't even know where my parents are. Sometimes I don't feel like talking, just like you. But see, my parents, wherever they are, I'm sure they want me to be brave. And maybe, your dad wants you to be brave too."

Lucas dropped his crayon, and looked up at Hermione. He took out a picture from the pile and handed it to her. She looked down, and saw it was a picture of a yellow house with a boy in a blue baseball cap, and a red bicycle.

The corners of Hermione's mouth curved into a small smile. "Thanks, Lucas."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I have this fanfic mostly planned out, but after this case it's going to be a little more difficult to update because I plan on writing my own case, which means no episodes for reference! It should be harder, but fun! Comments/Kudos are always appreciated.


	6. Peter Sweeney

"Andrea said the kid never drew like that till his dad died." Dean pointed out.

"There are cases." Sam said. "Going through a traumatic experience could make people more sensitive to premonitions, psychic tendencies."

Hermione raised an eyebrow. "So you can become an ideal target for possession just by being emotional?"

"Yeah."

"Whatever's out there, what if Lucas is tapping into it somehow?" Dean suggested. "I mean, it's only a matter of time before somebody else drowns, so if you got a better lead, please."

"Alright." Sam agreed. "We got another house to find."

"The only problem is there's about a thousand yellow two-stories in this county alone."

Hermione poked her head through the gap between the front seats and examined the drawing. "What about the church?" She asked, pointing.

Sam nodded. "Yeah, I bet there's less than a thousand of those around here."

"Thanks for the input, Sherlock, Sherlock Jr."

"Actually, that'd make me Watson. Not Sherlock Jr." Hermione corrected.

"Whatever, Mini Sherlock."

Sam, Hermione and Dean approached the white church identical to the one in Lucas's picture. Dean held up the drawing and compared it to the scene in front of them. They exchanged glances, and crossed the street to the yellow house. Dean knocked on the door, and an old woman, Mrs. Sweeney, invited them inside.

"We're sorry to bother you, ma'am, but does a little boy live here, by chance? He might wear a blue ball cap, has a red bicycle."

Mrs. Sweeney shook her head. "No sir. Not for a very long time." She frowned. "Peter's been gone for thirty-five years now." She glanced at a picture of Peter on the side table, and sighed. "The police never—I never had any idea what happened. He just disappeared."

Hermione elbowed Dean, and pointed to a number of toy soldiers on a table.

"Losing him—you know, it's...it's worse than dying."

Dean glanced at Sam. "Did he disappear from here? I mean, from this house?"

"He was supposed to ride his bike straight home after school, and he never showed up."

Dean picked a picture off the mirror. In the image, were two boys, and a bicycle. "Peter Sweeney and Bill Carlton, nineteen seventy." Dean read from the back of the picture, his eyes widening.

"Okay, this little boy Peter Sweeney vanishes, and this is all connected to Bill Carlton somehow." Sam summed up.

"Yeah, Bill sure as hell seems to be hiding something, huh?" Dean added.

"And Bill, the people he loves, they're all getting punished."

"So what if Bill did something to Peter?" Hermione asked.

"What if Bill killed him?"

"Peter's spirit would be furious. It'd want revenge. It's possible."

Dean drove the Impala up to the front of the Carlton house, and shut off the engine. The three of them exit the vehicle. They were going to get some answers out of Bill, no matter what.

"Mr. Carlton?" Sam called.

Sam, Dean and Hermione froze at the roar of an engine. Not wasting a minute, the three of them ran around the house, just in time to see Bill going out on the lake in his boat. Sam and Dean ran to the end of the dock, yelling. Hermione watched, her eyes wide.

"Mr. Carlton! You need to come back! Come out of the water! Turn the boat around!" Dean yelled.

"Mr. Carlton!"

Bill ignored the Winchester's cries and kept going. In one swift motion, the deadly water rose up and flipped Bill's boat over. In a matter of seconds, the boat and Bill were gone.

Back at the police station, Lucas sat in a chair, rocking back and forth. Andrea sat next to him, holding a paper bag and a plastic container. "Baby, what's wrong?" She asked, concerned.

Sam, Dean, Hermione and Jake Devins walked through the door, and Andrea looked over. "Sam, Dean, Hermione." She stood up, putting the bag and container on her chair. "I didn't expect to see you here."

"So now you're on a first-name basis." Andrea's father seemed genuinely surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"I brought you dinner."

"I'm sorry, sweetheart, I don't really have the time."

"I heard about Bill Carlton." Andrea said, changing the subject. "Is it true? Is something going on with the lake?"

"Right now we don't know what the truth is. But I think it might be better if you and Lucas went on home." Lucas looked up and whined. Hermione glanced over at him. He looked like someone had run over his dog. He jumped up and grabbed Hermione's arm.

"Lucas, hey, what is it?" She asked, but he didn't respond. "Lucas?"

"Lucas?"

"Lucas, it's okay. It's okay." Hermione reassured him. "It's okay. Hey, Lucas, It's okay."

Andrea pulled Lucas away from Hermione and lead him outside. He didn't tear his eyes away from her as they left. Jake threw his jacket down and went into his office. Sam, Hermione and Dean followed.

"Okay, just so I'm clear, you see… something attack Bill's boat, sending Bill- who is a very good swimmer, by the way- into the drink, and you never see him again?"

Dean glanced at Sam. "Yeah, that about sums it up."

"And I'm supposed to believe this, even though I've already sonar-swept that entire lake?" Then, as an afterthought he added, "and what you're describing is impossible? And you're not really Wildlife Service?" Dean, Sam, and Hermione exchanged glances of shock and concern. "That's right, I checked. Department's never heard of you two."

"See, now, we can explain that." Dean improvised.

"Enough. Please. The only reason you're breathing free air is one of Bill's neighbors saw him steering out that boat just before you did. So, we have a couple of options here. I can arrest you for impersonating government officials and hold you as material witnesses to Bill Carlton's disappearance. Or, we can chalk this all up to a bad day, you get into your car, you put this town in your rearview mirror, and you don't darken my doorstep again."

"Door number two sounds good."

"That's the one I'd pick."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not overly happy with this chapter, but whatever, I'll most likely revise and edit these chapters later on anyways. Add more detail, touch up the grammar, etc, etc. Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed! Once this case is done, it will be one of my own creation! Can't wait! :) If you have any urban legends/creepy ideas you'd like to share, feel free to message me. Not saying for sure I'll incorporate them, but I might. :) Is there a way to message people on ao3? I'm used to being able to pm on FF.net. I'm thinking of creating a Tumblr blog for fanfiction soon.


	7. Sacrifice

The Impala slowed to a stop as the traffic light shifted from yellow to red. "I don't get it." Hermione spoke up. "Why are we leaving? More people could be in danger." She looked between the two brothers. "We can't just give up."

"Yeah, well, it's between this and getting arrested." Sam said.

The traffic light shifted to green, but the Impala didn't move. "Green."

"Huh?"

Sam glanced between Dean and the traffic light. "Light's green." Dean turned right. "Uh, the interstate's the other way." Sam said, glancing back to where they should have gone.

"I know."

"But Dean, this job, I think it's over."

Dean hesitated. "I'm not so sure. I think Hermione might be right." He said, glancing at Hermione through the rearview mirror. She gave him a small smile in return.

"But Dean, if Bill murdered Peter Sweeney and Peter's spirit got its revenge, case closed." Sam argued. "The spirit should be at rest."

"All right." Dean replied. "So, what if we take off and this thing isn't done? You know, what if we've missed something?"

"What if more people get hurt?" Hermione added.

"But why would you think that?" Sam asked, furrowing his brow.

Dean sighed. "Because Lucas was really scared."

"That's what this is about?" Sam glanced between Hermione and Dean.

"I just don't want to leave this town until I know the kid's okay."

Sam's jaw dropped, and he gaped at his older brother. "Who are you? And what have you done with my brother?"

Dean glanced at Sam. "Shut up."

"Are you sure about this?" Sam asked, the three of them standing on Andrea's front porch. "It's pretty late, man."

Dean ignored Sam and rang the doorbell. At that moment, Lucas opened the door, his eyes wide and frantic.

"Lucas?" Hermione said. He turned, and took off running. "Lucas!"

Sam, Dean and Hermione followed him through the house, not stopping till they were in front of the bathroom on the second floor. Water poured from underneath the door, flowing through the halls and down the staircase. Lucas began pounding on the bathroom door again. Dean pushed him aside so Sam could kick down the door. Lucas fearfully grabbed onto Hermione.

Dean and Sam ran into the bathroom, and Sam stuck his arms in the tub, trying to pull Andrea out. The spirit pulled her back under, but Sam, with Dean's help, kept pulling until Andrea was all the way out. She coughed up the murky black water, and the two Winchesters lead her out of the bathroom, away from the supernatural liquid.

The room brightened as the sun began to rise. Andrea sat with Sam in the living room, wearing dry and comfortable clothing. Dean was flipping through notebooks on the bookshelves, looking for anything useful. Something that could explain why Peter Sweeney's spirit had gone after Andrea. Hermione sat with Lucas, keeping him company.

"It doesn't make any sense." Andrea said, trembling. "I'm going crazy." She put her face in her hands, crying softly.

"No, you're not." Sam insisted. "Tell me what happened. Everything."

"I heard...I thought I heard…" Andrea stuttered. "There was this voice."

"What did it say?"

"It said...it said 'come play with me'." She sobbed. Andrea removed her face from her hands and glanced up at Sam. "What's happening?"

Dean pulled out a scrapbook that said "Jake – 12 years old" and opened it, flipping through the pages. He closed it again and made his way over to Sam and Andrea; placing the book down in front of them. He opened it to a picture of Explorer Troop 37.

"Do you recognize the kids in these pictures?" He asked.

"What?" She frowned. "Um, um, no. I mean, except that's my dad right there." She said, pointing. "He must have been about twelve in these pictures." She moved her finger over to another picture of Jake as a child, standing next to Peter.

Dean looked at Sam. "Chris Barr's drowning. The connection wasn't to Bill Carlton. It must have been to the sheriff."

Sam nodded. "Bill and the sheriff—they were both involved with Peter."

"What about Chris?" Andrea asked. "My dad—what are you talking about?

Hermione glanced sideways at Lucas. "Lucas?" He was staring out the window, his eyes glazed over. "Lucas, what is it?"

Lucas stood up, and opened the door, walking outside. Hermione glanced at Dean, Sam and Andrea. The four of them got up and followed him.

"Lucas, honey?"

Lucas stopped in his tracks, and looked at the ground, then at Hermione.

"You and Lucas get back to the house and stay there, okay?" He told Andrea.

Andrea pulled Lucas back to the house. Dean and Sam fetched a couple of shovels from the trunk of the Impala, and started digging. Hermione watched the two at work. Eventually, Sam's shovel clanks against something. They dug with their hands and pulled out a red bicycle.

"Peter's bike." Hermione said, eyes wide.

"Who are you?"

The three of them turned around to see Jake, pointing a gun at them.

"Put the gun down, Jake." Sam reasoned, him and Dean dropping their shovels.

"How did you know that was there?" Jake asked, his voice shaking.

"What happened? You and Bill killed Peter, drowned him in the lake and then buried the bike?" Dean accused. "You can't bury the truth, Jake. Nothing stays buried."

"I don't know what the hell you're talking about." Jake retorted.

"You and Bill killed Peter Sweeney thirty-five years ago. That's what the hell I'm talking about."

Andrea ran up to the group, horrified. "Dad!"

"And now you got one seriously pissed-off spirit." Dean continued.

"It's gonna take Andrea, Lucas, everyone you love. It's gonna drown them. And it's gonna drag their bodies God knows where, so you can feel the same pain Peter's mom felt." Sam said. "And then, after that, it's gonna take you, and it's not gonna stop until it does."

"Yeah, and how do you know that?"

"Because that's exactly what it did to Bill Carlton."

Jake clenched his teeth. "Listen to yourselves. You're insane."

"I don't really give a rat's ass what you think of us. But if we're gonna bring down this spirit, we need to find the remains, salt them, and burn them into dust. Now tell me you buried Peter somewhere. Tell me you didn't just let him go in the lake.

Andrea looked at her father, eyes watering. "Dad, is any of this true?"

"No. Don't listen to them. They're liars and they're dangerous."

"Something tried to drown me. Chris died on that lake." She paused. "Dad, look at me." He did. "Tell me you—you didn't kill anyone." Jake looked away, ashamed. "Oh my God."

"Billy and I were at the lake. Peter was the smallest one. We always bullied him, but this time, it got rough. We were holding his head under the water. We didn't mean to. But we held him under too long and he drowned. We let the body go, and it sank." Dean glanced at Sam. "Oh, Andrea, we were kids. We were so scared. It was a mistake. But, Andrea, to say that I have anything to do with these drownings, with Chris, because of some ghost? It's not rational."

"All right, listen to me, all of you. We need to get you away from this lake, as far as we can, right now…"

"Lucas!"

Everyone turned to see Hermione chasing after Lucas. He was leaning over the side of the dock, reaching for a toy soldier in the water.

"Lucas!" Yelled, Dean and Jake simultaneously.

"Lucas!" Andrea screamed. "Baby, stay where you are!"

A hand came up and pulled Lucas into the water. Hermione glanced at Dean and Sam before diving in after him. The adults reached the edge of the lake, and Jake paused. He recognized Peter's head, visible in the murky water.

Sam and Dean kept running to the end of the dock. Without hesitation, the two of them dived in.

"Oh my God!" Andrea cried. She ripped off her jacket, intending to jump in as well.

Sam resurfaced. "Andrea, stay there!"

"No! Lucas!"

"We'll get him! Just stay on the dock!" He dived under again.

Dean came up for breath, and a minute later, so did Sam. "Sam?" Dean's voice shook. Sam shook his head.

"Lucas, where are you?" Andrea cried.

Jake took off his jacket as Sam and Dean dived back under. Jake waded into the lake, and Andrea glanced over.

"Peter, if you can hear me...please, Peter, I'm sorry. I'm so—I'm so sorry."

Andrea's eyes widened as she realized what he was doing. "Daddy, no!"

"Peter. Lucas—he's, he's just a little boy. And that girl—she, she has nothing to do with this. Please, it's not their fault, it's mine." His voice shook. "Please, take me."

Dean and Sam came up for air. "Jake, no!" Dean yelled, seeing what the sheriff was up to.

Peter surfaced. "Just let it be over!" Jake screamed, before being dragged down into the depths of the lake.

"Daddy! Daddy! No!"

Dean and Sam dove back down again. Andrea continued to scream and wail for her father. Sam resurfaced first, holding Hermione in his arms. Next came Dean, gasping for breath with Lucas clutching him tightly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys are so lucky, I almost put a cliffhanger here. Almost. Anyways, sorry it's been so long! I've been working on other fanfics, and homework, and etc. I get like a billion fanfic ideas daily and it drives me insane. Thanks for reading! Hope this chapter lived up to your expectations!


	8. M&Ms and Monocles

"What were you thinking?"

Hermione looked down at the hotel floor, avoiding Sam's expression. Yes, her actions had been reckless. Yes, she'd nearly drowned. Yes, the Winchesters had been worried sick. But Lucas had been in danger, and she wasn't going to watch from the sidelines.

"I was thinking I could help him." Hermione whispered, not daring to look up.

"You almost got yourself killed." He reminded her.

Hermione pushed her hair behind her ear, and sighed. "I'm sorry."

Sam ran a hand through his own hair. "Look, Dean and I have been doing this for years. It's too dangerous for an ammature. It's our job to keep you safe, and last I checked drowning isn't an exception. Hermione, for your sake, leave the hunting to us from now on."

"Fine." She said, her tone a little too bitter.

Sam placed a hand on her shoulder. "You should pack up, we're going to be leaving soon." Sam said, before leaving to put his duffel in the trunk.

Dean took a seat on the bed across from Hermione. Hermione glanced up at him, and then back to her own duffel. "Let me guess, you're mad too."

"I'm not mad." He replied, zipping up his bag.

She chuckled. "Disappointed?"

"What that you didn't die? I'm not disappointed or mad." Dean paused. "That took guts, kid."

Hermione's head jerked upwards, and a smile brightened her features. "Are you saying I was brave?"

"Yeah I am." There was something about Dean's confirmation that made Hermione swell with pride.

She tilted her head, confused. "You don't think it was a bad idea?"

Dean scoffed. "I do. But, hell, when I was your age, I would have done the exact same thing. I would go after Sam, and Dad..." Dean paused. He didn't look at Hermione, but down at his hands, as if he were afraid to continue. "Well, he wouldn't have been all that happy." He finished.

Hermione smiled. "I guess I'm not so messed up after all."

"Oh, I didn't say that." Dean replied, looking up from his hands. "You just happen to be slightly saner than me."

"Thanks." She giggled. "I think."

Dean shook his head, letting out a chuckle of his own. "Come on, let's get that duffel of yours in the trunk."

Dean and Hermione had just closed the trunk of the Impala before Andrea and Lucas walked up with a tray of sandwiches. "Hey." Dean greeted, smiling.

"We're glad we caught you. We just, um, we made you lunch for the road." She smiled and glanced at her son. "Lucas insisted on making the sandwiches himself."

"Can I give it to them now?" Lucas asked.

"Of course." Andrea said, placing a kiss on Lucas' head.

"Come on, Lucas, let's load this into the car." Dean said, leading Hermione and Lucas to the Impala.

"How you holding up?" Sam asked Andrea.

Andrea shrugged. "It's just gonna take a long time to sort through everything, you know?"

Sam sighed. "Andrea, I'm sorry."

Andrea shook her head. "You saved my son. I can't ask for more than that. Dad loved me. He loved Lucas. No matter what he did, I just have to hold on to that."

Hermione placed the sandwiches in the back seat and sat down beside them. Dean knelt down to Lucas' height. "You take care of your mom, okay?"

Lucas nodded. "All right."

Andrea came up and kissed Dean. "Thank you."

Dean turned to Sam. "Sam, move your ass. We're gonna run out of daylight before we hit the road."

The three of them had been driving in the Impala for a couple of hours, no real direction in mind. Dean pulled up to a gas station, and was filling up the tank, while Sam and Hermione waited.

"What do you do after a case?" Hermione asked from the back seat of the Impala.

"Usually we crank up the tunes, and drive till we find another case." Dean answered from outside the vehicle. "Hit a few bars, play some poker and pool. But something tells me you don't have ID." Dean shook his head. "There goes my sex life."

From the passenger seat, Sam rolled his eyes. "Dean, get over it."

"Sex life?"

Dean and Sam exchanged widened glances. "Shit, I am not having 'the talk' with her." Dean exclaimed, his eyes wide with terror.

Hermione raised an eyebrow. "How dumb do you think I am?"

Dean sighed. "That's a relief."

Sam chuckled. "I would have paid to hear you explain that to her."

"Shut up." Dean snapped.

After filling up the tank, Dean stood amidst the shelves at the gas station, a package of candy in either hand. Sam leant against the short shelves, making him look even taller than he already was. He and Dean waited anxiously for Hermione to make a decision. Because, honestly, the two of them had been arguing for over twenty minutes.

"Again, Licorice or Reese's Pieces?" Dean asked, putting emphasis on his preferred snack.

"Trust me, Hermione, Reese's Pieces are amazing." Sam said, attempting to win her over.

Dean scoffed. "They're okay. Licorice is way better. Besides, maybe she's allergic to nuts. Ever think of that?"

Sam's eyes widened as he thought over what Dean had just said. "You're not allergic are you?" He asked her. Sam was mostly concerned about her health, but a part of him was also sad about losing to Licorice.

Hermione laughed, the two brothers were acting like their lives depended on their favorite candy. "I don't think so."

"Choose. Choose. Choose." Dean chanted, slowly moving the Reese's Pieces back on the shelf.

Hermione took both candy bags from Dean and placed them on the shelf, retrieving a bag of milk chocolate M&Ms.

"Chosen." She smirked, handing the bag to Dean.

Dean's jaw dropped, while Sam burst out laughing.

Later that night, Sam, Dean and Hermione sat in a motel room, watching a movie they'd rented via pay per view. Between them, they shared the bag of M&Ms, and enjoyed watching Batman beat the shit out of Scarecrow.

Hermione savored every second of the movie, and even shushed Sam a few times for making snide remarks after Bruce Wayne's lines. Every once and a while Dean would imitate Christian Bale's 'Batman' voice, making Hermione giggle, and almost choke on an M&M.

Sam fell asleep halfway through, which was a big mistake on his part. Dean found a pen, and with the help of Hermione, drew a goatee on his little brother. Adding a monocle to his left eye, per Hermione's request.

He snickered, knowing it would take a while for the permanent ink to wash off. He just hoped he wouldn't have to go on a case like that. Hermione laughed, imagining Sam posing as FBI with a drawn on goatee and monocle.

Dean would later deny it, but watching a movie with Sam and Hermione sure beat hanging around a shady bar and hitting on bartenders. Just a bit. Needless to say, Dean didn't want to see Hermione go anytime soon. Because, admittedly, she brought out the best in the brothers, and made the family business much more bearable.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another sort of filler chapter to wrap up the last case, but I like the bonding moments between Hermione and the Winchesters, so there should be more to come! :) Next chapter marks the beginning of a new case (one of my creation, not canon), so it should be very interesting, or complete crap. You can decide that for yourself. I don't want to spoil anything, but it's something I can't believe they haven't covered on Supernatural yet.


	9. The Beaded Bag

Hermione's eyes snapped open, and she cringed at the blaring sunlight that greeted her. She took a few shaky breaths, and leant back against the seat. The cloaked figures from her dream haunted her thoughts, and she rubbed her arms, remembering the intense cold the creatures had brought. For a moment, she wondered if Sam or Dean had ever come across one. If they even existed in the first place.

Sam glanced at her through the rearview mirror. "Are you alright?" He asked, noticing her discomfort.

Hermione nodded, pushing away the thoughts of the dark creatures. "Where are we?"

"Charlotte, Carolina."

From the passenger seat, there was a low groan, and Dean sat up. Hermione assumed he had just woken up as well. "Sam, what the hell are we doing in Charlotte?" He yawned.

Sam rolled his eyes. "Remember? We found that case last night." He shook his head. "I guess you were pretty beat, huh?"

Dean's mouth formed an o, as he recalled the previous night. "Oh yeah, that girl right?"

"What girl?" Hermione asked, clueless. She must have have fallen asleep long before then.

"A girl was found dead in her bathroom." Dean explained. "The words 'I wasn't pretty enough' were carved into her chest." Hermione's eyes widened, and she subconsciously looked down at her own, scarless chest. "So, you're going to chill at the motel while we check out the case." Dean continued.

Hermione frowned. "Or you can stay at the motel, while Sam and I check out the case."

Dean chuckled. "Sorry kid, you're a little young to pass off as FBI."

Hermione crossed her arms over her chest. "So what the hell am I supposed to do?"

"We'll get a room with a TV."

"This is stupid." Hermione pouted. Dean and Sam had gotten a room with a television alright. She was supposed to watch an episode of some children's sitcom titled the Suite Life of Zack and Cody while they were out hunting some dangerous creature. How fair was that?

"We'll keep you updated." Dean promised, slipping on his leather jacket.

"You better."

Sam handed Hermione his cell phone. "Just in case."

Hermione watched Sam and Dean leave the motel. She glanced at the television and sighed. This was what kids her age were supposed to do, so why did she feel like she'd drawn the short straw?

"Stupid Winchesters." Hermione muttered, knowing full well she wasn't really mad at them, but at her age and inability to help.

She shivered. The heating in the motel room wasn't working too well. Hermione unzipped her duffle and grabbed her old pink hoodie. The fabric was soft to the touch and felt familiar, and safe. She snuggled into it, and jumped onto the bed. A small object fell out of one of the pockets. Her brow furrowed, and she pushed off the bed to examine whatever she'd dropped.

"What the…" She frowned, staring at the small pouch.

"I just, I can't believe she's gone." The woman sobbed. She'd been crying throughout the entire interrogation, and the Winchester brothers were doing their best to understand her through the sniffles. Sam had been rather sympathetic, but Dean wasn't sure how much more of it he could take.

"Mrs. Carter, did Chelsea have any enemies? People who would want to hurt her?" Sam asked, eyeing the growing pile of tissues on the coffee table.

"What?" Her eyes widened, and more tears streamed down her cheeks. "I don't think so."

"Do you mind if I see the bathroom?" Dean asked, trying to ignore the woman's emotions. Sam was much better at the whole 'comfort' thing. EMF was more his style.

The woman shook her head. "Down the hall, first door on the left." Dean nodded, and left the living space.

"That day, did she act strange?" Sam asked. "Was anything out of place? That you can think of?" Mrs. Carter shook her head. "What about her father, where's he?"

"He's away on a business trip." She answered, blowing her nose. "He couldn't get a flight till Sunday."

"I see, let us know if you think of anything that could be relevant."

"Even if it seems strange." Dean added, returning from the hall.

"I will." She promised.

Dean and Sam left the distressed woman's house, and stopped outside of the Impala to share information.

"So, the mother doesn't know anything." Sam concluded.

Dean scoffed. "I kinda figured that. Didn't find much in the bathroom, but the EMF meter went mad."

"Should we check out the morgue?" Sam asked.

Dean nodded. "Yeah, hang on." He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and dialed Sam's number. Sam's cell rang twice before Hermione finally picked up.

"Hello?" Hermione answered.

"Hey, you doing okay?" Dean asked.

"Fine." She sighed. "Just watched Zack and Cody solve a ghost problem of their own. You find anything?"

Dean shook his head. "Kind of, the mother was a dead end, but we found EMF. We're going to check out the morgue."

"Codenames?" Hermione questioned.

Dean chuckled. "Agents Wayne and Gordon."

Hermione laughed. "Tell Gordon I said hi."

"We won't be long." Dean promised, then added, "unless we find something, okay?"

"Got it."

"See ya."

"Bye."

Dean hung up, and slipped the cell back into his jacket pocket.

Sam turned to his brother and pushed the hair out of his face. "You know, Dean, we should get back to looking for her parents. The less time she spends with us, the better. I mean, she has a family somewhere.

Sam's words caught Dean off guard, and he froze. Sam stared at him expectantly, and he finally managed to stumble out words. "Yeah, yeah you're right."

"Dean?"

"Come on."

"Pretty deep cut." Sam noted, grimacing. "Have you heard of anything like this?"

Dean shrugged. "Nope. But the EMF meter went bezerk. Worth digging into. Vengeful spirit, maybe?"

"Maybe. But they've been living in that house for a while it seems, and this hasn't happened to anybody else." Sam replied, covering the corpse with the sheet.

"Cursed object?"

"Worth looking into."

Hermione set aside Sam's phone, and eyed the pouch suspiciously. It was roughly the size of her fist, beaded at the bottom, and had stripes colored in purples, greys and pinks. Slowly, she reached into the pouch. She felt around a bit. There had to be a few books of some sort in there, along with other objects. But how could they fit in there? Her eyes widened as she realized her whole arm had disappeared inside the small pouch..

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Comments/Kudos are always appreciated!


End file.
